Sunday, February 24, 2008

Changing Attitudes to Alcohol in the UK?

Good article on the problem of British people’s attitude towards alcohol. Perhaps the tide is turning if columns like this are appearing. Hope so.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/india_knight/article3423652.ece

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Renewing Your Mind

I really do recommend the book 'Battlefield of the Mind' by Joyce Meyer. It has really helped me deal with my negative thought patterns and is helping me concentrate on God in order to heal the sickness of negativity I've had for such a very long time.

Joyce is a Christian speaker and author and the book is bolstered by the word of God - it is a great tool.

Maybe some of you have the same problem of negative thinking - if you do and you're interested in dealing with it in a Biblical manner - this is definitely the book for you.

Later.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Efficient Service

Quote from Thalia Lyn at Island Grill:

"If we know 2.25 customers per minute order festival, we can prepare our food without people having to wait for their food," Lyn said of the efficiency programme.

In JA, this generally happens at fast food joints.

Here in the UK when you go into many fast food stores you often have to wait for up to 15 - 20 minutes for your order because they make it from scratch when you order - even if you order a common menu item.

If it can be done in a so-called third world country, why oh why can't it be done here?

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Not Enough Hours in the Day

I'm finding it difficult to find the time to do the things I want and it's driving me bonkers. I write - and that's a pretty cerebral activity. My day job requires me to write also - business writing though - and it's not a particularly creative activity. So when I get home, exercise, bathe and eat and pay attention to HRH there's precious little time left, much less brain power.

I was reading a story on the first post.com yesterday that talked about teleworking. It spoke about how 20 years ago people said that in the future people would be able to work from home. However, the reality is in spite of evidence that home working reduces congestion and improves productivity from 20-40% most companies won't let employees work anywhere but in the office.

This attitude is pretty much epitomised by Alan Sugar's attitude (He's the guy that does the Apprentice here in the UK). He stated in the papers last week that people who work from home aren't doing anything.

What a colossally backward atitude! As I mentioned above, studies have been done to show workng from home reduces congestion and improves productivity. Business people and managers are more concerned with their own reputations - 'here are a whole bunch of people who report to me' - and less concerned with productivity and the bottom line.

If people work from home, there's no crowd of people to prove how important they are.

Sick isn't it.

Well, it's for us the workers to set the agenda. Like the article said, talented young people are not willing to accept the status quo and are voting by taking their CVs to where flexible working is accepted.

Later.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Grammies etc.

Watching the Grammies while I work on the computer. Right now Kanye West is on. What a way him full of himself ee doah? Seems like Amy Winehouse has made out like a bandit though. I guess being caught up with all the trouble she has been in hasn’t hurt her chances at winning so many of these major awards. Wonderful message.

Parent to kid: Don’t take drugs; you won’t amount to anything if you take drugs
Kid: Rubbish – I could get a Grammy, hell I could get five!


Oh well.

Having said that he's now singing a wonderful ode to his mother. Great lyrics. So sorry she died.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Same Old Same Old

So the old racists in Spain have been publically attacking Lewis. And again we hear the same old apologies - tired and largely given by people who didn't commit the offence in the first place on behalf of people who aren't remotely sorry.

This time UK offocials seemed really pissed off though and are threatening diplomatic repercussions.

The Spaniards racists are something else. They erroneously claim that Lewis prevented Alonzo from winning the championship and that he bad mouthed him. Neither is true. And so they feel that racialy abusing Lewis is therefore acceptable.

We'll see how this is handled. But it is time white people stood up and joined the civilised human race and not only denounce racism but make their actions back up the sentiment if they really believe it.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Terrible Treatment of the Elderly

Just watched a documentary on Channel Four about how many pensioners in the UK have to choose between heating their homes or eating. It was terrible.

The elderly are often without family willing or able to properly care for them, their pensions are a joke, yet they still get charged extortionate bills like council tax, TV licence if they are under 75 and incredibly high fuel bills.

It breaks your heart. One of the ladies in the show didn't eat for days so she could heat just one room in her house. A man had threatening letters from his power company claiming he owed 200 pounds in arrears, it turns out they misread his meter.

One lady who had been a teacher or a nurse and now needed care because she was ill applied for a reduction in her council tax (this can be around 80 pounds a month - pensioners get about 130 pounds a week) - they turned her down.

It really is terrible. In Jamaica it is bad if you are older and broke and have no family, but in the UK there is the added problemn - and it is a considerable one - of the cold. It gets incredibly cold here. I had no idea how cold it can get, especially in the north. If you don't have central heating it can be awful unless you have free standing heaters and it isn't cheap to heat your home whatever means you use.

The government keeps cutting funding for older people and the problem just gets worse and worse with more and more pensioners each year dying from the cold.

It's time for sensible practices to be put in place to help older peole. Money must be found from other areas (getting false benefits claimaints off so that the true claimants - some of whom don't claim - is a start). But this cannot continue. Your later years should be a time of rest, reflection and pampering by your younger relatives. Not misery, lonliness and poverty.